Plow bottom bolt



Oct. 31, 1950 c. v. BECKSTROM PLOW BOTTOM BOLT Filed Aug. 15, 1947 FIG. 3

FIG. 2

IN VEN TOR. CARL l BECKSTROM Patented Oct. 31, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE-- Carl V. Beck'strom, Moline,'Ill., assignor'to -Deere' & Company, Molin'e, 111., a 'corporation o'f Illinois Applieauonaugusri's, 1947,'Serial No. 768,801

5.Claims.'

The present invention relates generally to plows and more particularly to an improved plow bottom construction.

The object and general nature of the present invention is the provision of new and improved fastening means for connecting the several components of the plow bottom to the supporting frog member. More particularly, it is a feature of this invention to provide a new and improved plow bolt for fastening one or all of the share, landslide and moldboard to the frog.

Heretofore, the share, landslide and moldboard have been provided with countersunk holes adapted to register with companion holes in the frog, and conical headed bolts inserted into the registering holes and tightened for holding the parts rigidly together. For good plowin it is necessary to have smooth uninterrupted surfaces, and in order to achieve this end it is customary to grind and polish the outer surfaces of the share, landslide and moldboard to a fine smooth finish, and in order to have no openings or gaps at the heads of the bolts the plow assembler hammers on the heads of the plow bolts with a ball peen hammer or the like in order to have the heads completely fill the countersunk openings, the heads of the bolts being made slightly larger in order to insure that there shall be sufficient metal in the bolt heads to completely fill the countersunk olpenings. After the heads have thus been hammered, the heads are ground down to a point almost flush with the outer surface'of the landslide, shareor moldboard before the parts are given their final grinding and/or polishing. I have found that in peening the heads of the bolts considerable time is required to repeatedly strike the end of the bolt head in order to force the metal into the countersunk opening and, secondly, that in subsequently grinding down the bolt head the operator frequently grinds away excessive amounts of the associated part, such as the share, landslide, and moldboarcl. This is especially serious in the case of the moldboard where sometimes the case hardened layer on the outer face of the moldboard is materially reduced or entirely removed and, furthermore, sometimes a slight depression is left in the outer surface of the moldboard which materially interferes with the proper scouring of the plow.

1 With the above features in mind, it is a prin- 2 into-theassociat'ed countersunk opening; excessive grinding and polishing is not necessary; More specifically; according tothe present invention, I provide a conical plow bolthaving' at the outer peripheral portionof the head a'g'en crally radially outwardly extending flange that'is deformable and,'extendin'g outwardly beyondthe conical surface of the bolt head, this excess material is-tightl forced into the-outer portions of the countersunk-hole when the plow bolt is tightened. When the bolt is-completely. tight ened, which may be done eitherby striking the center portion of the bolt head asingleblow orinerely by pullingthe nuts uptightly, there is a generally-annular or'circular ridge of' metal around the end of the bolthea'd, but 'tlie-general plane of the bolt'head may lie-substantially flush with or just slightly above the general plane of the outer surface of theassociated' part, such as the moldboard, for ex'arnple. The grinding and/or polishing necessaryto remove the slight amount of excess material is much less than the-necessary grinding and polishing necessary to'remove the" excess portions of the ordihary peened p'low bolt head, yet in deforming the radially outer flange of my newan'd'improved plow bolt the countersunk hole in the associated part is completely filled so that" when thegrinding and/or polishing is completed there are n'o gaps or cracks around the bolt'hea'd and, as a practical matter, it is almost impossible to determine visually wher'e the bolt head lies. As mentioned above, this is particularly important in case of the moldb'oar'd.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be'apparent to those skilled in the art afte'ra consideration ofthe following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings; in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a plow bottom in which the principles of the'p'resent in vention' have been incorporated.

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken generally along the line 2 -2 of Figure 1' but be fore the bolts have been tightened.

Figure 3 is a'view similar to Figure 2 showing theparts after thebolt has been tightened'but before the completed plow bottom has been ground and polished.

Referring first to Figure 1, the ordinary plotv bottom usually consists-of a frog or supporting member I and a share 2, moldboard 3, and landside 4 rigidly secured to the supporting-frogby plow bolts. In some casesthe shares z'a'remaae,

with special attaching means-in which plowbclts are eliminated, such shares being commonly referred to as quick detachable, but in most cases the moldboard 3 and landside 4 are bolted rigidly to the frog l by means of plow bolts which it is the object of the present invention to improve. However, in many cases, the share 2 is secured to the associated plow by means of plow bolts, and such is the construction indicated in Figure 1,

My new and improved plow bolt may be employed for fastening the share, landside and moldboard, or any of them to the frog, and in each case the construction is substantially the same. Hence, a detailed description of m new and improved plow bolt need include only the bolt construction employed in Figure l for fastening the moldboard to the frog, it being understood that the plow bolts for fixing the share and landside to the frog may be of substantially the same construction.

Referring now more particularly to Figures 2 and 3, my new and improved plow bolt is indicated in its entirety by th reference numeral 6 and comprises a shank 1, generally of conventional construction, a conical head 8 which terminates outwardly in a generally radially extending flange 9 which joins the outer conical portion of the head 8 with a short radius, as indicated at Ill. The plow bolt 6 may be of the square nut type, as indicated at l l, or the squared sections l I may be omitted and the conical head provided, if desired, with a key or other means for keeping the head from turning, or such means may be eliminated if feasible. As best shown in Figure 2, for receiving the bolt 6, the frog I is provided with an opening I5 which is adapted to register with an opening l6 formed in the associated portions of the moldboard 3, the outer portion of the opening [6 being countersunk, as indicated at II. It will be noted from Figure 3 that the conical head 8 of the bolt 6 may be disposed in the countersunk section ll of the opening [6 and that the outer radial flange portion 9 of the bolt head is slightly larger than the diameter-of the outermost portion of the countersunk portion ll. This causes the flange 9, before the bolt is tightened, to rest against the outer end of the hole, I6, ll. When the bolt 6 is drawn down into the registering holes I5 and 16, as by forcibl tightening the nut I8, the radial flange section 9 is forced or compressed into the outer portions of the countersunk section [1, as indicated in Figure 3. This deformation of the radial flange section 9 only of the head 8, while causing the countersunk opening [6, I! to be completely filled so thatthere are no cracks or gaps in the finished plow bottom, may easily be accomplished, either by tightening the nut l8 or by striking the centerportion of the head 8 a single blow with a hammer or the like, as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 3. Preferably, the head 8 is slightly shorter than the ordinary plow bolt so that when the bolt 8 is drawn down in place, as illustrated in Figure 3, the outer face 2| of the head 8 is substantially flush with the outer face of the associated moldboard 3 so that when finishing the plow bottom the only portions that need be removed are those portions that comprise the raised ring-like section 9, together with superficial portions of the outer face 2| of the head. This materially reduces the amount of grinding and/or polishing that need be performed, as compared with conventional practice, and not only reduces the labor costs in manufacturing the plow but more importantly reduces the likelihood of the operator grinding away too much of the outer face of the moldboard I.

While I have shown and described above the preferred structure inwhich the principles of the present invention have been incorporated, it is to be understood that my invention is not to be limited to the particular means shown and described above, but that, in fact widely different means may be employed in the practice of the broader aspects of my invention.

What I claim, therefore, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A plow bolt for fixing a moldboard or other part having a countersunk hole to a supporting member having an opening, said plow bolt comprising a shank adapted to be passed through said hole and opening, a conical head adapted to seat in the countersunk portion of said hole, and a cylindrical portion of relatively short axial dimension lying axially outwardly of said conical head and having a diameter greater than the diameter of the largest part of said conical head, thereby forming a flange extending radially outwardly of said conical head, said flange being relatively thin and the outer face of said cylindrical portion being substantially flat and lying in a plane normal to the axis of the bolt, the diameter of said flange also being greater than the largest diameter of said countersunk hole in said moldboard or other part and the diameter of said largest part of said conical head being smaller than the largest diameter of said countersunk hole whereby when the bolt is inserted in said hole said flangeengages the edge of said hole and said conical portion lies loosely in said countersunk hole, said flange being thereby adapted, when the head of the bolt is forced into said countersunk hole, to beforced against the outer portions of the walls of said hole so as to act with said conical head to completely fill said countersunk hole and form a relatively small ring-like ridge lying, before the plow part is ground, above the plane of the top of the bolt head whereby, after the plow part is ground, the head of the bolt is flush with the outer surface of the plow part and there is no gap between the head of the bolt andthe opening in the plow part.

2. In a plow bottom including a supporting member having; a plow bolt receiving opening, the combination of a moldboard or other plow part adapted to be flxedto said supporting member and having a, plow bolt receiving countersunk opening adapted to register with said first mentioned opening, and a plow bolt comprising a shank adapted to be passed through said hole and opening, a conical head adapted to seat in the countersunk portion of said hole, and a cylindrical portion of relatively short axial dimension lying axially outwardly of said conical head and having a diameter greater than the diameter of the largest part of said conical head, thereby forming a flange extending radially outwardly of said conical head, said flange being relatively thin and the outerface of said cylindrical portion being substantially flat and lying in a plane normal to the axis of the bolt, the diameter of said flange also being greater than the largest diameter of said countersunk hole in said moldboard or other part and -the diameter of said largest part of said conical head being smaller than the largest diameter of said countersunk hole whereby when the bolt is inserted in said hole said flange engages the edge of said hole and said conical portion lies loosely in said countersunk hole, said flange being thereby adapted, when the headof the bolt is forced into said countersunk-hole, to be forced against the outer portions of the walls of said hole so as to act with said conical head to completely fill said countersunk hole and form a relatively small ring-like ridge lying, before the plow part is ground, above the plane of the top of the bolt head whereby, after the plow part is ground, the head of the bolt is flush with the outer surface of the plow part and there is no gap between the head of the bolt and the opening in the plow part.

3. A plow bolt for fixing a moldboard or other part having a countersunk hole to a supporting member having an opening, said plow bolt comprising a shank adapted to be passed through said hole and opening, a conical head adapted to seat in the countersunk portion of said hole, and an axially outwardly disposed portion of relatively short axial dimension lying axially outwardly of said conical head and having a diameter greater than the diameter of the largest part of said conical head, thereby forming a flange 1.

extending radially outwardly of said conical head, said flange being relatively thin and the outer face of said axially outwardly disposed portion being substantially flat and lying a plane normal to the axis of the bolt, the diameter of said flange also being greater than the largest diameter of said countersunk hole in said moldboard or other part and the diameter of said largest part of said conical head being smaller than the largest diameter of said countersunk hole whereby when the bolt is inserted in said hole said flange engages the edge of said hole and said conical portion lies loosely in said coun tersunk hole, said flange being thereby adapted,

when the head is forced into said countersunk hole, to be forced against the outer portions of the walls of said hole so as to act with said conical head to completely fill said countersunk hole and form a relatively small ring-like ridge lying, before the plow part is ground, above the plane of the top of the bolt head whereby, after the plow part is ground, the head of the bolt is flush with the outer surface of the plow part and there is no gap between the head of the bolt and the opening in the plow part.

4. The combination of a plow part adapted to be ground to provide a smooth surface to facilitate scouring and having a plow bolt receiving countersunk opening, and a plow bolt comprising a shank adapted to be passed through said opening, a conical head adapted to seat in the countersunk portion of said opening and an axially outwardly disposed disk-like portion of relatively short axial dimension lying axially outwardly of said conical head and having a diameter greater than the diameter of the largest part of said conical head, thereby forming a flange extending radially outwardly of said conical head, said flange being relatively thin and the outer face of said disk-like portion being substantially flat and lying in a plane normal to the axis of the bolt, the diameter of said flange also being greater than the largest diameter of said counter sunk opening in said plow part and the diameter of said largest part of said conical head being smaller than the largest diameter of said countersunk opening whereby when the bolt is inserted in said opening said flange engages the edge of said opening and said conical portion lies loosely in said countersunk opening, said flange being thereby adapted, when the head is forced into said countersunk opening, to be forced against the outer portions of the walls of said opening so as to act with said conical head to completely fill said countersunk opening and form a relatively small ring-like ridge lying, before the plow part is ground, above the plane of the top of the bolt head whereby, after the plow part is ground, the head of the bolt is flush with the outer surface of the plow part and there is no gap between the head of the bolt and the open-,

ing in the plow part.

porting member having a plow bolt receiving opening, the improvement which comprises a plow part adapted to be ground to provide a smooth surface to facilitate scouring and adapted to be fixed to said supporting member and having a plow bolt receiving countersunk hole adapted to register with said first mentioned opening, and a plow bolt comprising a shank adapted to be passed through said hole and opening, a conical head adapted to seat in the countersunk portion of said hole, and an axially outwardly disposed disk-like portion of relatively short axial dimension lying axially outwardly of said conical head and having a diameter greater than the diameter of the largest part of said conical head, thereby forming a flange extending radially outwardly of said conical head, said flange being relatively thin and the outer face of said disk-like portion being substantially flat and lying in a plane normal to the axis of the bolt,

the diameter of said flange also being greater than the largest diameter of said countersunk hole in said plow part and the diameter of said largest part of said conical head being smaller than the largest diameter of said countersunk hole whereby when the bolt is inserted in said hole said flange engages the edge of said hole and said conical portion lies loosely in said countersunk hole, said flange being thereby adapted, when the head is forced into said countersunk hole, to be forced against the outer portions of the walls of said hole so as to act with said conical head to completel fill said countersunk hole and form a relatively small ring-like ridge lying, before the plow part is ground, above the plane of the top of the bolt head whereby, after the plow part is ground, the head of the bolt is flush with the outer surface of the plow part and there is no gap between the head of the bolt and the opening in the plow part.

CARL V. BECKSTROM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record'in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,603,195 Crain Oct. 12, 1926 1,965,360 Steinway July 3, 1934 2,218,856 Roessner Oct. 22, 1940 2,249,428 Kempel July 15, 1941 

